A recently launched appeal in the Beaverbrook Art Gallery dispute implies the case’s arbitrator – York Chancellor Peter Cory – failed to deliver "even-handed justice," wrote the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal April 25. Meanwhile, legal counsel for the gallery is dismissing the appeal as a recycling of old arguments in the three-year struggle over the fate of 133 paintings and sculptures, worth $100 million, between the art gallery and the Beaverbrook UK Foundation.
In a 12-page submission, lawyers for the foundation outline their various grievances and call into question Cory’s impartiality. "Justice was not seen to be done in that the arbitrator gave the appearance of failing to give even-handed justice, including through his comments made during the hearing comparing Lord Beaverbrook to Joseph Goebbels, the propaganda minister in Hitler’s Third Reich."
"It is essentially a rehash of the same arguments they argued before Justice Cory in the three-month arbitration. There’s not a lot that’s new here," said Larry Lowenstein, counsel for the gallery. And in terms of questioning Cory’s performance, Lowenstein said good luck. "Let’s put it this way, if one’s looking for a villain in this piece it strikes me that Mr. Cory is an unlikely candidate."
Gallery executive director and curator Bernard Riordon has said he has confidence in Cory’s ruling, based on his sterling legal reputation. Since retiring, Cory has sat as chancellor at York University and as a special adviser to the federal Department of Justice.
Consumers need to be educated
Consumers should distinguish between loyalty programs with databases and those without databases, such as appreciation rewards, says Alan Middleton, professor of marketing at the Schulich School of Business at York, in The Leader-Post (Regina) April 25. The programs with databases require members to submit profiles with their age, gender, address and consumer preferences, and often offer better rewards.
"They want your data in order to market to you, so they give you more stuff. But you’ll be getting lots of spam in your e-mail box," he says. "Make sure it’s a legitimate organization before you give any information away," he adds, "and be cautious if you’re asked for information about other people, such as where your husband works or how much he earns."
Universities embracing bilingual education
Universities are beginning to respond to student demands for bilingual degree programs, author John Ralston Saul told the 10th annual French for the Future conference April 24, wrote the Toronto Star April 25. "Say: I am bilingual and bicultural – are you sophisticated enough to educate me?" Saul said to more than 200 Toronto high-school students at York’s Glendon College, which offers bilingual programs.
New volleyball coach
A teacher at Valley Park Middle School in Don Mills has been hired as York’s interim women’s volleyball coach, wrote the North York Mirror April 24. Arif Nathoo, a former assistant coach at York and head coach at Ryerson, Nathoo replaces the retiring Hernan Humana. "It’s a great honour," Nathoo said. "There is so much tradition and so much history at York. When I was there, we were winning OUA championships and putting up banners and I want to do that again."
Sex assault reported at York
A woman was sexually assaulted as she entered Stong College on York’s Keele campus Sunday night, wrote the North York Mirror April 24. The suspect fled following the 9:30pm attack. He is white, in his early 20s, 5-foot-8, with a shaved head and a medium build. He was wearing a white Adidas soccer shirt with a black logo. Anyone with information is asked to call the sex crimes unit at 416-808-7474 or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS (8477). The story was also reported on several Toronto radio and television stations.